The Best Free Antivirus Protection for 2019

Even if you're running Windows 10, you shouldn't rely on Microsoft's security tools. Many free third-party security apps are more effective at keeping you safe. We've tested 17 no-cost services to help you find the best free antivirus for protecting your PC.

Bottom Line: ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus+ combines a top-notch firewall with antivirus protection licensed from award-winning Kaspersky. This free program can be a good choice if you don't want a full-scale...

Bottom Line: In a complete makeover, adaware antivirus free 12 has a new name and a new look. Under the hood, though, its test results aren't the best, and competing free products have much more to offer...

Bottom Line: The free Comodo Antivirus 10 has a new look, and it aced our hands-on malware blocking test. However, it didn't do as well on other tests by PCMag or the few independent labs that have evalu...

Neil J. RubenkingThe Best Free Antivirus Protection for 2019Even if you're running Windows 10, you shouldn't rely on Microsoft's security tools. Many free third-party security apps are more effective at keeping you safe. We've tested 17 no-cost services to help you find the best free antivirus for protecting your PC.

Free Malware, Spyware, and Adware Protection

Going without antivirus protection just isn't smart. You could lose your savings to a banking Trojan, or find that ransomware encrypted all your important documents. You might find even someone using creepy spyware to peek at you out of your webcam. Don't be put off by the cost of antivirus software; you can get very good protection without paying a thing. The very best free antivirus utilities outperform many of their commercial competitors, and they all do better than the built-in Windows Defender. We've put 17 free antivirus utilities up on the rack for testing, to help you make an informed choice.

Your antivirus should definitely have the ability to root out existing malware, but its ongoing task is to prevent ransomware, botnets, Trojans, and other types of nasty programs from getting a foothold. All of the antivirus programs in this collection offer real-time malware protection. Some take the fight upstream, working hard to ensure you never even browse to a malware-hosting site, or get fooled into turning over your credentials to a phishing site.

Free Antivirus vs. Paid Antivirus

If free antivirus tools are so great, why should anybody pay? For one thing, quite a few of these products are free only for noncommercial use; if you want to protect your business, you have to pony up for the paid edition. At that point, you should probably consider upgrading to a full security suite. After all, it's your business's security on the line.

Even for personal use, most for-pay antivirus tools offer more than their free counterparts—sometimes a lot more. For example, the paid edition of adaware's antivirus adds a behavior-based detection tool, along with protection against malicious and fraudulent websites that the free version lacks. And Panda reserves quite a few features for paying customers, among them firewall protection, application control, and detection of insecure Wi-Fi connections.

In addition, many companies don't offer full-scale tech support for users of the free edition. The first time you need extra help digging a particularly stubborn piece of malware out of your system, you might regret the lack of support.

Independent Antivirus Lab Test Results

Around the world, researchers at independent antivirus testing labs spend their days putting antivirus tools to the test. Some of these labs regularly release public reports on their findings. We follow four such labs closely: AV-Comparatives, AV-Test Institute, SE Labs, and MRG-Effitas. We also take note of whether vendors have contracted for certification by ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs.

Security companies typically pay for the privilege of being included in testing. In return, the labs supply them with detailed reports that can help improve their products. The number of labs that include a particular vendor serves as a measure of significance. In each case, the lab considered the product important enough to test, and the vendor felt the price was worthwhile. The labs don't necessarily test a vendor's free product, but most vendors pack full protection into the free product, enhancing premium versions with additional features.

We Test Malware Protection

In addition to carefully perusing results from the independent labs, we also run our own hands-on malware protection test. We expose each antivirus to a collection of malware samples, including a variety of different malware types, and note its reaction. Typically the antivirus will wipe out most of the samples on sight, and detect some of the remaining ones when we try to launch them. We derive a malware blocking score from 0 to 10 points based on how thoroughly the antivirus protects the test system from these samples.

Since we use the same samples month after month, the malware-blocking test definitely doesn't measure a product's ability to detect brand-new threats. In a separate test, we attempt to download malware from 100 very new malicious URLs supplied by MRG-Effitas, typically less than a day old. We note whether the antivirus blocked all access to the URL, wiped out the malicious payload during download, or did nothing. Norton holds the current top score in this test, followed by Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security and Avira Free Antivirus.

Useful Features

Just about every antivirus product scans files on access to make sure malware can't launch, and also scans the entire system on demand, or on a schedule you set. Once that cleaning and scheduling is done, blocking all access to malware-hosting URLs is another good way to avoid trouble. Many products extend that protection to also steer users away from fraudulent websites, phishing sites that try to steal login credentials for financial sites and other sensitive sites. A few rate links in search results, flagging any dangerous or iffy ones.

Behavior-based detection, a feature of some antivirus products, is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it can detect malware that's never been seen before. On the other hand, if it's not done right, it can baffle the user with messages about perfectly legitimate programs.

Any antivirus should eliminate spyware along with other types of malware, but some products include features designed specifically for spyware protection. Features like encryption to protect your sensitive data and webcam control to prevent remote peeping typically show up in commercial products, not free ones. But some free products include features like a simple on-screen keyboard to foil keyloggers.

One easy way to keep your PC protected is to install all security updates, both for Windows and for browsers and other popular applications. Windows 10 makes it easier than ever to stay up to date, but there are plenty of security holes in older Windows versions, in popular apps, and in add-ons. Scanning for vulnerabilities in the form of missing updates is a feature most often found in commercial antivirus products, but it does turn up in some free ones. In the chart above you can see which products include these useful features.

What's Not Here? What About Windows Defender?

This article reports only on free antivirus products that received at least a good rating in our reviews—three stars or better. Microsoft Windows Defender Security Center joined the three-star group in its latest review, with hands-on test results much better than in its previous review. However, it still isn't a product, as such. Rather, it's a component of Windows. And the very best free antivirus utilities offer many more layers of protection. Windows Defender doesn't make antivirus software obsolete.

Several free utilities devoted entirely to ransomware protection recently joined the party. Cybereason RansomFree, Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware Beta, and Trend Micro RansomBuster exist for the sole purpose of fending off any ransomware attack that your regular antivirus misses. Bitdefender Anti-Ransomware works by fooling ransomware to think that your computer is already infected. We include them in the blurbs below and encourage you to give them a try. They don't appear in the chart simply because they don't do the job of a full-scale antivirus utility.

There are also numerous free antivirus utilities that work solely to clean up existing malware infestations. You bring out these cleanup-only tools when you have a nasty malware problem. When the malware's gone, they have no further use, since they offer no ongoing protection. Our favorite in this category is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and it's definitely one you should try if you've got a malware problem. But since they're free, you can keep trying others if the first one doesn't do the job. When the scare is over, you'll need a full-blown antivirus for ongoing protection.

What's the Best Free Antivirus?

Our current Editors' Choice products for free antivirus utility are Avast Free Antivirus and Kaspersky Free. Avast gets very good scores from the independent labs, and Kaspersky took near-perfect scores in recent tests. On the other hand, Avast includes some useful bonus features not found in Kaspersky, including a password manager and a network security scanner. If you do have a little cash in your budget for security, the best paid antivirus software does offer more and better protection. If not, try a few of these free tools and see which one you like best.

Editors' Note: We are aware of the allegations of Kaspersky Labs' inappropriate ties to the Russian government. Until we see some actual proof of these allegations, we will treat them as unproven, and continue to recommend Kaspersky's security products as long as their performance continues to merit our endorsement.

Bottom Line: Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition includes precisely the same antivirus technology found in the commercial Bitdefender Antivirus, without the paid edition's many useful bonus features.

Cons: Hardly any results from independent testing labs. Doesn't include every feature of Kaspersky antivirus. No phishing protection. Behavioral detection flagged both good and bad programs.

Bottom Line: ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus+ combines a top-notch firewall with antivirus protection licensed from award-winning Kaspersky. This free program can be a good choice if you don't want a full-scale security suite.

Cons: In testing, did not detect disk-encryption ransomware.

Bottom Line: The consequences of a ransomware attack are dire, so supplementing your antivirus with a second layer of defense like Cybereason RansomFree is a great idea. It's free; go ahead and install it.

Pros: Free. Excellent score in phishing protection test. Very good score in malicious URL blocking test. Very good independent lab results. Remote management for up to three PCs or Macs. Download protection.

Cons: Mixed scores in independent lab tests. Low scores in our hands-on tests. No protection against malicious or fraudulent URLs. Lacks features found in competing free products products and in its own previous edition.

Bottom Line: In a complete makeover, adaware antivirus free 12 has a new name and a new look. Under the hood, though, its test results aren't the best, and competing free products have much more to offer.

Cons: Does nothing against other ransomware families.

Bottom Line: Bitdefender Anti-Ransomware vaccinates your PC against infection by four specific ransomware families, and testing shows that it does the job. But you'll need some other kind of protection to handle other ransomware families, and other malware in general.

Bottom Line: The free Comodo Antivirus 10 has a new look, and it aced our hands-on malware blocking test. However, it didn't do as well on other tests by PCMag or the few independent labs that have evaluated it.

Cons: Folder Shield limited to two folders. In testing, behavior-based detection only caught half of the real-world ransomware samples.

Bottom Line: It's very good of Trend Micro to make RansomBuster available for free, and its Folder Shield successfully prevents unauthorized changes to your documents. However, the behavior-based detection system needs work.

Bottom Line: Comodo Internet Security Premium 10 merges Comodo's standalone antivirus and firewall programs and adds a new secure shopping environment. That's a lot of features for a free product, but some aren't very effective.

About the Author

Neil Rubenking served as vice president and president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years when the IBM PC was brand new. He was present at the formation of the Association of Shareware Professionals, and served on its board of directors. In 1986, PC Magazine brought Neil on board to handle the torrent of Turbo Pascal tips submitted b... See Full Bio

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